A garret is a small room or living space tucked up under the roof of a house, usually in the attic. Picture the slanted ceiling where the roof meets the walls, creating a cozy but cramped space. In older buildings, garrets often had tiny windows that peeked out from the roofline.

Historically, garrets were the cheapest rooms in a building because they were hot in summer, cold in winter, and required climbing many stairs to reach. In cities like Paris and London during the 1800s, struggling artists, writers, and students lived in garrets because that's all they could afford. The poet or painter working away in a drafty garret, dreaming of future success, became a romantic image in literature and art.

Today, people sometimes convert garrets into charming bedrooms or studios, adding insulation and skylights to make them comfortable. But the word still carries that feeling of simple, humble living, often associated with creative work and youthful ambition. When someone talks about “scraping by in a garret,” they're usually describing an artist or writer working hard on their craft before achieving success, living simply while pursuing their dreams.